Vehicle superstructure

Abstract

To provide a vehicle upper structure capable of easily forming a shelf part for reducing a resonance sound of a vehicle during traveling of the vehicle.SOLUTION: A vehicle upper structure 10 comprises: a gap 16 extending in a vehicle width direction on the vehicle upper side of a vehicle 12; a first panel 30 disposed on the vehicle rear side of the gap 16; and a second panel 32 superposed on the upper surface of the first panel 30. A front end 30F of the first panel 30 protruded by a prescribed length more than a front face 32F of the second panel 32 is used as a shelf part 34 capable of reducing a resonance sound generated by air flowing from the vehicle front side into the gap 16 during traveling of the vehicle.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a vehicle upper structure. Background Art

[0002] A resonance noise improvement structure for a vehicle is conventionally known, which includes an opening formed on a surface through which air flows, and a closed space formed inside the surface and communicating with the opening, and has a shelf portion offset from the surface toward the closed space on the downstream side of the air flow at the opening (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The length Lt of this shelf portion in the air flow direction satisfies Lt = 0.18Ls to 0.53Ls with respect to the length Ls of the opening in the air flow direction, and the height Ht of this shelf portion from the surface is at least Ht = 0.17Ls with respect to the length Ls of the opening in the air flow direction. Prior Art Literature Patent Literature

[0003] Patent Document 1 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-225646 Summary of the Invention Problem to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] However, when the vehicle is traveling, if the shelf portion for reducing resonance noise of the vehicle is formed of only one member, processing or molding of the member is required, which complicates the manufacturing process.

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle upper structure that can easily form a shelf portion for reducing resonance noise of a vehicle when the vehicle is traveling. Means for Solving the Problem

[0006] To achieve the above objective, the vehicle superstructure of the first embodiment of the present invention comprises a gap portion extending in the vehicle width direction on the upper side of the vehicle, a first panel positioned on the rear side of the gap portion, and a second panel positioned on top of the upper surface of the first panel, wherein the front end portion of the first panel, which protrudes by a predetermined length from the front end surface of the second panel, is a shelf portion capable of reducing resonant noise caused by air flowing into the gap portion from the front side of the vehicle when the vehicle is in motion.

[0007] According to the first embodiment of the invention, the front end of the first panel, which protrudes by a predetermined length beyond the front end surface of the second panel, is a shelf capable of reducing resonant noise caused by air flowing into the gap from the front of the vehicle when the vehicle is in motion. In other words, the shelf is formed by two members, the first panel and the second panel. Therefore, the shelf is easier to form compared to the case where the shelf is formed by only one member.

[0008] Furthermore, the vehicle superstructure according to the second embodiment of the present invention is the vehicle superstructure according to the first embodiment, wherein the gap is formed between the roof panel and the back door of the vehicle.

[0009] According to the second embodiment of the invention, resonant noise generated from the gap formed between the roof panel and the back door of the vehicle is effectively suppressed.

[0010] Furthermore, a third embodiment of the vehicle superstructure according to the present invention is the vehicle superstructure according to the second embodiment, wherein the first panel is a rear spoiler and the second panel is a rear spoiler cover.

[0011] According to the third embodiment of the invention, since the shelf is formed using the rear spoiler and rear spoiler cover originally included in the back door, it is easier to form and the manufacturing cost is reduced compared to cases where the shelf is formed using materials other than the rear spoiler and rear spoiler cover.

[0012] Furthermore, the vehicle superstructure of the fourth embodiment of the present invention is a vehicle superstructure of any one of the first to third embodiments, wherein the length of the shelf portion along the vehicle longitudinal direction is 1 / 5 to 1 / 2 of the spacing of the gap portion along the vehicle longitudinal direction.

[0013] According to the fourth embodiment of the invention, the length of the shelf portion along the vehicle's longitudinal direction is set to 1 / 5 to 1 / 2 of the spacing of the gap portion along the vehicle's longitudinal direction, thereby effectively suppressing resonant noise generated from the gap portion.

[0014] Furthermore, the vehicle superstructure of the fifth embodiment of the present invention is a vehicle superstructure of any one of the first to fourth embodiments, wherein the length along the vertical direction of the vehicle from the upper surface of the second panel to the upper surface of the shelf is 1 / 5 or more of the spacing of the gap along the longitudinal direction of the vehicle.

[0015] According to the fifth embodiment of the invention, the length from the upper surface of the second panel to the upper surface of the shelf along the vehicle's vertical direction is set to be 1 / 5 or more of the distance of the gap along the vehicle's longitudinal direction, thereby effectively suppressing resonant noise generated from the gap. [Effects of the Invention]

[0016] As described above, according to the present invention, a shelf portion for reducing vehicle resonance noise during vehicle operation can be easily formed. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0017] [Figure 1] This is a schematic perspective view showing a vehicle equipped with the vehicle superstructure according to this embodiment. [Figure 2] This is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along the line XX in Figure 1. [Figure 3] This is a partially enlarged schematic cross-sectional view of the shelf section in Figure 2, which represents this embodiment. [Figure 4] This is a schematic cross-sectional view corresponding to Figure 3, showing a shelf section according to a first modified example of this embodiment. [Figure 5] This is a schematic cross-sectional view corresponding to Figure 3, showing a shelf section according to a second modified example of this embodiment. [Figure 6] It is a schematic cross-sectional view corresponding to FIG. 3 showing a shelf portion according to a comparative example. MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[0018] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. For convenience of explanation, the arrow UP appropriately shown in each drawing is defined as the upward direction of the vehicle, the arrow FR is defined as the forward direction of the vehicle, and the arrow LH is defined as the left direction of the vehicle. Therefore, in the following description, unless otherwise specified, descriptions of up / down, front / rear, and left / right directions refer to up / down in the vehicle vertical direction, front / rear in the vehicle longitudinal direction, and left / right in the vehicle lateral direction (vehicle width direction), respectively.

[0019] As shown in FIG. 1, a gap 16 constituting the vehicle upper structure 10 according to the present embodiment is formed between a roof panel 14 constituting the roof of a vehicle 12 and a back door 20 that opens and closes the luggage compartment of the vehicle 12. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, between the rear end portion 14B of the upper surface 14A of the roof panel 14 and the front end surface 32F of a rear spoiler cover 32 (described later) that constitutes a part of the back door 20, a parting gap extending in the vehicle width direction as a parting portion is formed, and this parting gap serves as the gap 16.

[0020] The back door 20 is disposed on the rear side of the gap 16, and includes a back door upper outer panel 22, a back door inside panel 24, and a back door glass 26. An upper flange portion 22A and a lower flange portion 22B are integrally formed at the upper end portion and the lower end portion of the back door upper outer panel 22, respectively, and an upper flange portion 24A and a lower flange portion 24B are integrally formed at the upper end portion and the lower end portion of the back door inside panel 24, respectively.

[0021] Then, the upper flange portion (22A) of the back door upper outer panel (22) and the upper flange portion (24A) of the back door inside panel (24) are overlapped and joined to each other, and the lower flange portion (22B) of the back door upper outer panel (22) and the lower flange portion (24B) of the back door inside panel (24) are overlapped and joined to each other. That is, the back door upper outer panel (22) and the back door inside panel (24) form a closed cross-sectional shape extending in the vehicle width direction.

[0022] Further, in a side view, a rear end portion (14B) on an upper surface (14A) of the roof panel (14) is bent at a substantially right angle toward the lower side, and the roof panel (14) has a vertical wall portion (14C) continuous from the rear end portion (14B). A lower end portion (14D) of the vertical wall portion (14C) is bent at a substantially right angle toward the rear side, and the roof panel (14) has an extending portion (14E) continuous from the lower end portion (14D).

[0023] The extending portion (14E) of the roof panel (14) is curved downward from an intermediate portion thereof along the lower surface of the back door inside panel (24), and a back door weather strip (15) is attached to a rear end portion of the extending portion (14E). A sealing structure is configured by the lower surface of the back door inside panel (24) being in pressure contact with the back door weather strip (15). Accordingly, a space portion (18) having a predetermined size is formed below the gap portion (16).

[0024] Further, a resin rear spoiler (30) serving as a first panel is attached to an upper side of the back door upper outer panel (22) by a fixing member (28) such as a clip. The rear spoiler (30) is colored black, so that it is not conspicuous even if a front end portion (30F) described later protrudes into the gap portion (16). A lower surface of an upper end portion (26A) of the back door glass (26) is joined to an upper surface of the lower flange portion (22B) of the back door upper outer panel (22), and a rear portion (30B) of the rear spoiler (30) covers the upper end portion (26A) of the back door glass (26) from an upper side.

[0025] A resin rear spoiler cover 32, acting as a second panel, is attached integrally to the upper surface of the rear spoiler 30. The rear spoiler cover 32 is colored the same as the vehicle 12, and the rear spoiler 30 is covered from above by the rear spoiler cover 32, except for its front end 30F. In addition, the rear end 32B of the rear spoiler cover 32 in the center in the vehicle width direction is bent downward and approaches the back door glass 26 from above, covering the rear end surface 30C of the rear spoiler 30 from the rear.

[0026] Furthermore, the front portion 30A of the rear spoiler 30 and the front portion 32A of the rear spoiler cover 32 protrude forward from the front ends of the upper flange portion 22A of the back door upper outer panel 22 and the upper flange portion 24A of the back door inside panel 24. The rear spoiler cover 32 is positioned so that its upper surface 32U is substantially flush with the upper surface 14A of the roof panel 14 (see Figure 3).

[0027] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 3, the front end portion 30F of the rear spoiler 30 is bent diagonally forward and upward at a predetermined angle θ in a side view, and protrudes forward by a predetermined length L beyond the front end surface 32F of the rear spoiler cover 32. The upper surface portion of this front end portion 30F that protrudes by the predetermined length L forms a shelf portion 34 to which air flowing into the gap portion 16 (space portion 18) from the front collides, and this shelf portion 34 prevents the generation of vortices due to airflow on the rear side of the gap portion 16.

[0028] The shelf section 34 is formed as a flat surface with the normal direction as the vertical direction and extends in the vehicle width direction. The length L of the shelf section 34 in the front-rear direction is set to 1 / 5 to 1 / 2 of the spacing W of the gap section 16 in the front-rear direction, and the length H in the vertical direction from the upper surface 32U of the rear spoiler cover 32 to the upper surface of the shelf section 34 (hereinafter referred to as "height") is set to 1 / 5 or more of the spacing W of the gap section 16 in the front-rear direction.

[0029] To give a specific example of numerical values, in this embodiment, the spacing W is W = 9.4 mm, the length L is L = 3.3 mm, and the height H is H = 2.0 mm. Therefore, as shown in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2001-225646, this shelf portion 34 makes it possible to reduce the resonant sound (wind noise) caused by air flowing from the front to the gap portion 16 (space portion 18) when the vehicle 12 is in motion.

[0030] The operation of the vehicle superstructure 10 according to this embodiment, which has the configuration described above, will now be explained.

[0031] First, let's describe the comparative example. As shown in Figure 6, in this comparative example, the shelf portion 134 is formed using only the rear spoiler cover 132 (without using the rear spoiler 130). That is, a notch 132A, which is roughly "L" shaped in side view, is formed on the upper side of the front end portion 132F of the rear spoiler cover 132, and the shelf portion 134 is formed by this notch 132A.

[0032] Thus, if the shelf portion 134 is formed by only one component, the rear spoiler cover 132, then processing or molding is required to form a notch 132A in the front end portion 132F of the rear spoiler cover 132, which complicates the manufacturing process.

[0033] In contrast, in this embodiment, as shown in Figure 3, the shelf portion 34 is formed by two components: the rear spoiler 30 and the rear spoiler cover 32. Therefore, in this embodiment, compared to the comparative example in which the shelf portion 134 is formed by only one component, the rear spoiler cover 132, no processing or molding is required, thus the manufacturing process is not complicated, and the shelf portion 34 can be easily formed.

[0034] Furthermore, in this embodiment, since the shelf portion 34 is formed using the rear spoiler 30 and rear spoiler cover 32 that are originally included in the back door 20, it can be formed more easily and the manufacturing cost can be reduced compared to cases where the shelf portion 34 is formed using materials other than the rear spoiler 30 and rear spoiler cover 32.

[0035] Furthermore, in the comparative example shown in Figure 6, the shelf portion 134 forms two edges (upper edge 132Eu and front edge 132Ef) extending in the vehicle width direction on the front end portion 132F of the rear spoiler cover 132, which may impair its appearance. In contrast, in this embodiment, an edge extending in the vehicle width direction is formed only on the upper edge 32E (see Figure 3) of the front end surface 32F of the rear spoiler cover 32, so there is no risk of impairing its appearance. Also, since the rear spoiler 30 is black, the shelf portion 34 protruding into the gap 16 is difficult to see from the outside and does not stand out (it does not impair its appearance).

[0036] Furthermore, the length L of the shelf section 34 in the front-to-back direction is set to 1 / 5 to 1 / 2 (0.2 to 0.5) of the spacing W of the gap section 16 in the front-to-back direction, and the height H, which is the length in the vertical direction from the upper surface 32U of the rear spoiler cover 32 to the upper surface of the shelf section 34, is set to be 1 / 5 (0.2) or more of the spacing W of the gap section 16 in the front-to-back direction.

[0037] Here, when L=0.2W~0.5W and H=0.2W or higher, it is known that resonant noise caused by air flowing from the front side of the vehicle 12 into the gap 16 (space 18) can be reduced, as described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2001-225646. Therefore, in this embodiment, resonant noise generated from the gap 16 formed between the roof panel 14 and the back door 20 can be effectively suppressed, and the comfort inside the vehicle can be improved.

[0038] The operation of the vehicle superstructure 10 according to this embodiment is as described above, but the shape of the front end portion 30F of the rear spoiler 30 that constitutes the shelf portion 34 is not limited to the shape shown in Figure 3. For example, as shown in the first modified example in Figure 4, if the thickness D of the rear spoiler cover 32 is 1 / 5 (0.2) or more of the spacing W along the front-rear direction of the gap portion 16, the front end portion 30F of the rear spoiler 30 may be extended forward by a predetermined length L beyond the front end surface 32F of the rear spoiler cover 32 to form the shelf portion 34.

[0039] Furthermore, as shown in the second modified example in Figure 5, the front end portion 30F of the rear spoiler 30 may be bent upward at approximately a right angle to form the shelf portion 34, rather than being bent diagonally forward and upward at a predetermined angle θ in a side view. In this way, the shelf portion 34 formed by the front end portion 30F of the rear spoiler 30 and the front end surface 32F of the rear spoiler cover 32 may be configured in any way as long as it satisfies the above dimensions (length L and height H) with respect to the spacing W.

[0040] The vehicle superstructure 10 according to this embodiment has been described above based on the drawings. However, the vehicle superstructure 10 according to this embodiment is not limited to the illustrated version, and can be modified as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, the gap 16 is not limited to a configuration formed between the roof panel 14 and the back door 20 of the vehicle 12. Therefore, the first panel is not limited to a rear spoiler 30 and the second panel to a rear spoiler cover 32. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0041] 10. Vehicle superstructure 12 vehicles 14 Roof Panel 16 Gap 20 Backdoor 30 Rear spoiler (1st panel) 30F front end 32 Rear spoiler cover (2nd panel) 32F front end surface 34 Shed

Claims

1. A gap extending in the width direction on the upper side of the vehicle, The first panel is positioned on the rear side of the vehicle in the gap, A second panel is placed on top of the upper surface of the first panel, Equipped with, The front end of the first panel is bent upward toward the vehicle when viewed from the side, and the vehicle superstructure has a shelf portion that protrudes by a predetermined length toward the front of the vehicle beyond the front end surface of the second panel in the gap.

2. The vehicle superstructure according to claim 1, wherein the front end of the first panel is bent at a predetermined angle diagonally forward and upward when viewed from the side.

3. The vehicle superstructure according to claim 1, wherein the front end of the first panel is bent at approximately a right angle in a side view.

4. The vehicle superstructure according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the length of the shelf portion along the vehicle longitudinal direction is 1 / 5 to 1 / 2 of the spacing of the gap portion along the vehicle longitudinal direction.

5. The vehicle upper structure according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the length along the vehicle's vertical direction from the upper surface of the second panel to the upper surface of the shelf is 1 / 5 or more of the spacing of the gap along the vehicle's longitudinal direction.

6. The vehicle superstructure according to any one of Claims 1 to 3, wherein the gap is formed between the roof panel and the back door of the vehicle.

7. The vehicle superstructure according to claim 6, wherein the first panel is a rear spoiler and the second panel is a rear spoiler cover.

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